Snap-seal



J. L. DINSMOOR.

SNAP SEAL.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-27,1920.

1,368,724. Patented Dec. 28,1920.

. INVENTOR BY ATTORNEY:

JohnLJYinsnzoor UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

JOHN L. DENSMOOB, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNO'R TO'ANCHOR CA1 &.

CLOSURE CORPORATION, OF BROOKLYN, NEXV YORK, A CORPORATION OF YORK.

SNAP-SEAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented-Dec. 28, 19 20.

Application filed January 27, 1920. Serial No. 354365.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OI-IN L. DrNsMoon, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Snap Seals, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to seals of the type customarily designated in the art as snap seals.

An object of the invention is to provide a form of seal which is adapted for use on a great variety of articles and in a consider able diversity of applications.

A further object is to provide a seal having features adapting it particularly to special uses, without limiting its utility in the more common uses ofisuch articles.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a snap seal whichis susceptible of being applied to different articles in different positions selectively, in order that the seal may be best fitted to the article to which it is attached, with the purpose of position ing it where it will be out of the way.

Still further objects of the invention are to provide snap seal which is simple in con struction and operation so that it may be supplied at minimum cost and used with the greatest convenience; and to provide a snap seal which will afford the user entire security, by virtue of the fact that it can not be detached or tampered with without displaying plain evidence of that fact.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed out or inclicated in the following description of an illustrative embodiment, and in the claims, or will be obvious therefrom, or from the drawings forming a part of this specification.

The prior art and the known practice pertinent to articles of this kind contain a great variety of snap seals designed more or less specifically for parti cular uses, such as for railway car doors, for packages of various sorts, for attaching tags, for sealing regis tering devices, an'd'the like. In all instances within my knowledge, however, the features adapting such prior devices to some particular use or application have incapacitated it for use in any great diversity of applications. This has necessitated the consumer who has a variety of uses for seals supplying himself with a variety of seals.

It will be evident from the following description that the invention maybe embodied in forms varying considerably as to detail, and it is to be understood, accordingly, that the illustrative embodiment about to be described is simply what I regard as the preferred one of a variety of embodiments.

In the drawings Figure 1 represents a fragmentary elevational view of a bagillustrating one application of the device;

Fig. 2 is a similar fragmentary elevation illustrating another application of thedevice,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the device with a part in section;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating one applicationof the device, and a form thereof varying slightly from that shown in Fig. 4; and i i Fig. 6' is a similar longitudinal sectional view illustrating another application of the device.

Referring to the drawings by means of the reference characters applied, it will be understood that the device comprises a shackle portion 1 and a keeper 2. The shackle is in the form of a flexible strip arranged for attachment atone extremity to the keeper. by anyeifective means. The other extremity is provided with a piercing .point 4 having sufficientrigid-ity to permit its being forced through bag fabric, paper, or other penetrable material. Adjacent the last mentioned extremity of the shackle are disposed the resilient locking members 5. In the embodiment illustrated the looking members are formed as tongues slotted and up-struck from the material in the shackle. Each resilient locking member is shaped to provide a. cam face-which is clearly seen as a slightly concave surface in Figs, l, 5, and 6,-and an abutting or locking extremity 7 comprising the free or severed end of the resilient member 5. The normal position of the locking members is outsidethe plane of the shackle, and, due to their resiliency and elasticity, they may be deflected from their normal position into the slots from which they were struck by pressure applied upon the cam surfaces 6, and upon the relief of such pressure will immediately resume their normal positions. There may be one or more of these locking members 5, duplication being for the purpose of affording an arrangement for adjustment of the shackle.

The keeper is formed of rigid material and is of tubular form having a continuous peripheral wall'providing a continual longitudinal passage open at both ends. The shape and cimensions of the keeper are such that this longitudinal passage is of proper contour and size to accommodate the portion of the shackle carrying the locking members 5, without affording room for the introduction of any kind of an instrument when the shackle is in sealed condition. The depth of the longitudinal passage in the keeper is such that when the portionof the shackle carrying the locking members is forced longitudinally thereinto, said locking inembers will be pressed up into the plane of the shackle by engagement upon the surface on which they slide. /Vithin the keeper, and jutting from the longitudinal passage thereof, is provided a locking seat 9. The

. shape and disposal of this locking seat is such as to accommodate a locking member 5 when the latter is substantially in its normal deflected position. The locking seat affords oppositely arranged stop members 8 adapted to make abutting contact with the extremity 7 of the locking member positioned in the locking seat 9. The locking seat 9 may be provided as an aperture adjacent the extremity of the shackle member, in the manner illustrated in the drawings. It is to be observed that the camming surfaces 6 of the stop members are toward the entering point of the shackle member, and that extremities 7 of the locking members are directed away from the entering point.

By virtue of this arrangement of parts the entering point i of the shackle may be inserted within the keeper 2 from either end, and a locking member 5 positioned within the locking seat 9 with its extremity 7 in abutting engagement with one of the stops 8. In such position withdrawal of the shackle is effectively prevented. The depth of the locking seat or the height of the stops 8 is such as to prevent the doubling over of the locking member 7 by tension exerted through the shackle, and, as stated above, the shape and size of the clearance within the keeper for the reception of the shackle must be such as to prevent the insertion of any implement whereby the locking member might be lifted out of engagement with the locking stop.

In Figs. 4 and 6 the attachment of one extremity of a shackle to the keeper is accomplished by means of a rivet 10 disposed on an extension of a wall of the keeper. In Fig. 5 is shown another form of connection afforded by the provision of a transverse aperture 11 through the wall of the keeper and a boss 12' struck up from the shackle and adapted to register in the aperture, in which position it is retained by the close fit of the shackle between the top and bottom walls of the keeper. This boss may be formed in the shackle in the course of the manufacture thereof, or it may be formed at the time the seal is applied by an ordi nary punch inserted through an aperture in the opposite wall of the keeper.

The seal constructed in this fashion may be applied to a great variety of uses. The shackle may be inserted through a ring or rings so that the device may be used on railway cars, registers, meters, and the like. In such applications, the insertion of the entering point into the keeper at the end from which the shackle emerges, as illustrated in Fig. 6, will permit the seal hanging or lying close to the car wall or the side of the meter or register casing. Or the shackle may be drawn about a package. such as a box, and the entering point intro duced at the end of the keeper opposite the end from which the shackle extends, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5. This arrangement permits the seal lying close to the face of the package when utilized in such application. The piercing point may be forced through the fabric of a bag, or through a bale, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3. or drawn about the neck of the bag to form a tie, as shown in Fig. 2, and the seal locked in the most convenient fashion. Any portion of the point or free end of the shackle projecting beyond the end of the keeper may be broken off after the seal is locked in place. Numerous other advantageous applications of this device will be obvious to those employing such articles.

The low cost at which this device may be manufactured will be obvious to those skilled in the art. The keeper may be formed by die casting, by flattened sections of round tubing, from folded sheet metal, and in other ways, and the forming of the shackle may be accomplished by a simple punching operation. When sealed the device is incapable of detachment without showing clear evidence of the fact, as access to all securing means is effectively prevented by the keeper. Suitable indicating marks may be placed on the shackle at the points Where it emerges from the keeper, if desired, but reinsertion of a severed end of the shackle into the keeper is effectively prevented by the proper sizing of the parts to insure fitting of the shackle within the longitudinal passage of the keeper. The device lends itself readily to embossingor other marking which it may be desired to place upon a seal, is very strong, and exceedingly easy to apply.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A snap seal comprising a shackle and.

a keeper, the former being made of flexible material and the latter being of tubular form, means being provided for securing one end of the shackle to the keeper, and the other end of the shackle being insertible into the tubular keeper at either end thereof, and there being provided locking means rendered effective by the insertion of the shackle into the keeper at either end thereof for locking and holding said parts against separation.

2. As an article of manufacture, a snap seal comprising a shackle in the form of an elongated flexible member and a keeper of tubular form, said shackle having provision at one end for attachment to the keeper, and having a snap locking member at the other end, and means within the keeper adapted for effective locking engagement with the locking member of the shackle; the end of the shackle carrying said locking member being insertible into the keeper at either end thereof to effect locking engagement of said locking member with the locking means within the keeper.

3. As an article of manufacture, a snap seal comprising a shackle of flexible mate rial and a flat keeper, said keeper being provided with a passage for the reception of the shackle arranged to permit the insertion of the shackle selectively at opposite ends of the keeper, a locking means encompassed and concealed by the keeper, and a locking member carried by the shackle and adapted for effective engagement with said locking means upon the insertion of the shackle into the keeper at either end.

at. As an article of manufacture a snap seal comprising ashackle carrying a looking member, a keeper arranged to permit the insertion of the shackle to locking position therein'from either of opposite directions, and locking means carried by the keeper; the keeper being arranged to inclose and conceal the locking member and the locking means when same are in interlocking engagement.

5. As an article of manufacture, a snap seal comprising a flexible shackle provided with locking members adjacent one extremity and a stop member adjacent the ing the keeper against movement relative to the locking member and stop when they are in looking engagement.

6. As an article of manufacture, a snap seal comprising an elongated flexible member having locking portions adjacent its extremities adapted for interengagement, a keeper formed with a longitudinal passage adapted to accommodate the end portions of the shackle when in over-lapping relation ship, said passage having exterior openings arranged to permit the insertion to locking position of the end portions of the shackle at the same end of the keeper or at opposite ends thereof, and means for maintaining the keeper against movement away from the interlocked portions of the shackle.

7. As an article of manufacture, a snap seal comprising a flexible shackle having a longitudinal series of locking members adjacent one extremity, a keeper of tubular form at the other extremity and a locking member within the keeper; said keeper being arranged for the passage of the opposite extremity of the shackle therethrough in either direction to permit engagement of the first mentioned locking members selectively with the last mentioned locking member, and including portions effective to inclose and to maintain itnerengaged the locking members in locking engagement.

8. As an article of manufacture, a snap seal comprisin' a shackle of flexible material, a penetrating point at one extremity thereof, a keeper at the opposite extremity of the shackle member, locking members disposed Within the keeper and adjacent the penetrating point respectively, and the keeper being formed to permit the insertion of the penetrating point to locking position therein from either of opposite directions.

JOHN L. DINSMOOR. 

